Happy St. Patrick's Day and a change in plans for us. People in the campground told us that downtown Charleston on St. Paddy's Day would be crazy, with the parade and all the people. So we just go with the flow and decide to go north of Charleston to the town of Summerville. Yesterday at the plantation a man had seen us with our bikes and had told us of a nice paved trail in that town. So off we go, an hour later check into the Chamber of Commerce and get a local map so we can find the trails. Fortunately they also have a trail map, so we are all set for a day of biking. The riding is really easy, all flat so we clip along, averaging 25 to 30 km per hour. At the end of the trail we encounter a man wading in the creek, turns out he is looking for fossilized shark teeth and whale bones. During the excavation of the channel, the various sedimentary seams were exposed and turned out to be a goldmine for amateur fossil hunters. This fellow told us that on occasion one might even find a tooth embedded in a vertebrae. Imagine how that came to be!

! We turn around and head back to town for some lunch. We find another great lunch spot that we just happened upon, called Gordon's Tea and Coffee Shop, it had a patio tucked away on the side. So we park the bikes right there by a table and order up lunch. If you really like pecan pie this is a spot to go, it didn't taste like anything back home. Back on the road again mid afternoon, heading north, as we have the condo booked for this week, starting tonight. Along the way is a town called Jamestown, so another stop there before we get to Myrtle Beach. As we pull into the Harbour Lights Resort where the condo is, we notice a lot of old car activity in the outlet mall parking lot across the way. We took a wander over there after supper and apparently it is one of the largest annual Hot Rod/custom car shows on the continent. It attracts about 3500 to 4000 vehicles, and the admission is free. We didn't get to see much before dark, but will have to hit it first thing in the morning. One car that we did see was a 1937 Austin. Rather special to see as my father worked for the Austin Motor Company before immigrating to Canada. This morning we woke to clear blue skies but fairly cool temperatures. I guess as we gradually head back north, we will begin to experience a drop in temperature. It was even cool enough for me to wear long pants. (That would be Jon speaking!!) First thing after breakfast we headed back to the mall for the car show. It's only a 5 minute walk and to drive, you would probably spend an hour trying to find a parking space. We walked for a good 2 to 3 hours and still didn't see all the cars. The vehicles were outstanding, model T's, 50's, trucks, corvettes, you name it, they were there. What pride the owners must have in their restorations and custom fabrications. There was no shortage of chrome and BIG engines. For me this brought back memories of times spent when I was younger and went to all the car shows. There were even a few VWs there and one 1967 VW bus, pink with a custom interior, but not outfitted for camping. We did some grocery shopping to stock up for the coming week, and then off to do some biking. Alas, with the traffic leaving the auto show, and us forgetting the right maps, we ended up driving around, and finally gave up. Oh well, tomorrow is another day